ANOTHER Nationalist MP is facing a probe by parliamentary watchdogs after failing to declare his links to the firm which organises Europe's largest comedy festival.

Tommy Sheppard, the MP for Edinburgh East, is the sole director of the Scottish Comedy Agency and owns 95 per cent of the company's shares.

The agency runs the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, which gets underway next month with 420 shows across the city - many of them with an overtly political message.

Mr Sheppard is also one of seven directors of Salt 'n' Sauce Promotions, which runs The Stand comedy clubs in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.

Edinburgh EastAnd he is a director and 50 per cent shareholder of the George Street Festival, which was set up to organise spin-off events during the Edinburgh Fringe.

The House of Commons Code of Conduct states that MPs must declare all active directorships and any shareholdings greater than 15 per cent - however Mr Sheppard's entry in the Register of Members' Interests only mentions his shares in Salt 'n' Sauce.

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Some of the most high-profile performers are outspoken supporters of Scottish independence and/or the SNP, such as Frankie Boyle, Janey Godley and Hardeep Singh Kohli.

Mr Sheppard's agency also stages a number of smaller comedy festivals, such as Funny In Falkirk and Ha Ha Hamilton.

According to the most recent accounts, filed on February 9, the company is thriving with almost £220,000 in share capital and reserves.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has written to Kathryn Hudson, the Officer of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, to report the SNP's Cabinet Office spokesman.

His letter states: "I believe that there is a clear case to investigate whether Mr Sheppard has breached the Code of Conduct."

The commissioner is already investigating SNP MP Phil Boswell after he failed to declare his directorship of a small consultancy firm.

Two other MPs, Michelle Thomson and Natalie McGarry, have resigned the party whip and are facing police investigations into their financial affairs.

Mr Bridgens said: "Unfortunately, once again we are seeing a Scottish National Party MP with serious questions to answer about their interests.

“In the political vacuum created by Labour’s implosion in Scotland, we are witnessing a party that clearly hasn’t properly checked out the people representing it. It is certainly no laughing matter."

Mr Sheppard is also risking a fine from Companies House as the accounts and annual return for his George Street Festival company are overdue.

A compulsory strike-off notice was lodged on December 1, meaning the company will be dissolved at the end of the month.

The other directors and shareholders in Salt 'n' Sauce include the comedians Frankie Boyle, Fred MacAulay, Miles Jupp and Paul Sneddon, who performs as Vladimir McTavish.

A Westminster insider said: "Tommy seems like a nice enough bloke but the rules are the rules. With the Scottish elections and the EU referendum coming up, voters who go to the comedy festival deserve to know that it is run by a politician."

Mr Sheppard, 56, only joined the SNP during the independence referendum campaign. He was previously a Labour councillor and party official before quitting in 2003.

Eben Wilson, director of Taxpayer Scotland, said: "When MPs do have outside interests it is doubly important they come completely clean about them. The rules are important and they are there to protect voters from any mischief."

An SNP spokesman said: "This was an error that has now been rectified. In the interests of transparency Tommy Sheppard is referring himself to the Commissioner."